


sugar and honey

by kinkywonn



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, assistant jooheon, ceo hyungwon, changkyun doesn't give good advice to jooheon, it's just rly cute okay, minhyuk is hyungwon's best friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 05:47:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15550983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinkywonn/pseuds/kinkywonn
Summary: hyungwon's had his new assistant, jooheon, for 6 months now, and he's been wanting to get him a gift to thank him, but he doesn't know what to get jooheon. then jooheon gives him an idea of what to get him as a gift.





	sugar and honey

**Author's Note:**

> it's finally done!! this took me a month to write OTL but it's here!! i hope y'all enjoy!!
> 
> bruna, thank you for the prompt and i hope i did it justice!!!

it's been six months since hyungwon hired his new assistant, jooheon, and to be frank, he's been the best (and cutest, but don't tell minhyuk that) assistant he's ever had. his last assistant had been quite useless, always on her phone and had been stealing from his company. not only that, she had been spending excessively on the business card and he hadn't even noticed as his bookkeeper was in league with her. he hadn't had to fire so many people at once, but that day was dark. nobody had ever seen their CEO get so angry before, and they hoped to never see that again.

  
a week later found lee jooheon sitting in the plush chair across from hyungwon and next to hyungwon's temporary assistant, minhyuk. minhyuk worked elsewhere in the company, but he used to be hyungwon's assistant back when hyungwon first became CEO of Chae Publishing. jooheon had barely any experience with being an assistant, but he was eager (and cute, but hyungwon won't admit that) and willing to learn and that was what hyungwon was looking for. he had minhyuk train jooheon for two weeks before shadowing jooheon as he began doing his assistant duties on his own. minhyuk only shadowed for a day and a half before leaving jooheon on his own, he was highly capable of doing everything without assistance at all.

and so, six months had passed and hyungwon was faced with a crisis. he wanted to get jooheon something nice for being his assistant for six months and doing a damn good job at it. but the problem was, he didn't know what to get jooheon. they might have been working closely together for six months, but they haven't had any conversations about themselves or what they like outside of work. they've only had conversations about work and some minor things about their weekends when they see each other on monday.  
when 5pm rolled around, hyungwon began packing up his things. he slid his laptop into its bag, multiple files into the side pocket and two high-profile author's manuscripts he was editing. as a CEO he shouldn't be editing any manuscripts, but he had been editing these author's manuscripts since he started working as an editor at the company and refused to give them up. well, when he first started as CEO, he passed them off to another editor and two weeks later, the authors contacted him and requested that he be the only person to edit their manuscripts.

hyungwon slung his laptop bag over his shoulder, picking up his keys and access card before leaving his office. he turned around and noticed that jooheon was still at his desk, staring intently at his computer screen.

"jooheon, it's 5, you can go home now." hyungwon said, watching as jooheon sighed and began packing up.

"yeah, alright." jooheon sounded dejected.

"what's wrong? you sound upset." hyungwon asked. jooheon sighed and pouted slightly, hyungwon's eyes focused on jooheon's plump lips rather than his eyes.

"well, my headphones broke this morning and i don't have a replacement pair. i was looking for somewhere that was open that might have a pair of cheap earbuds so i can listen to music on my way home. but nowhere is open."

the perfect gift, hyungwon thought, a new pair of headphones.

"that really sucks, jooheon. here, use my earbuds until you can get a new pair." hyungwon fished around in his satchel until he found the tangled mess of cords.

"are you sure, mr. chae?" jooheon asked, eyes wide.

"i'm sure, jooheon. and please, call me hyung. calling me mr chae makes me feel much older than i am," hyungwon chuckled, passing his earbuds over to jooheon's open hands. "besides, i have no need for them when i drive."

"th-thank you, hyungwon. i'll return these to you next week, i'll be going to get some new headphones on the weekend." jooheon smiled at hyungwon, bringing out those dimples. hyungwon's breath caught in his throat. jooheon's dimples made him so. much.  _cuter_.

"just out of curiosity, what kind of headphones did you have?"

"i just had a pair of beats by dre, but i've been looking at getting a pair of noise cancelling, wireless headphones. i also like to compose and rap in my spare time." jooheon explained, walking with hyungwon to the elevators down the hall.

"really? you might have to show me sometime," hyungwon mused, cooing softly softly when jooheon's cheeks flushed pink.

"you'd like to hear my music?" jooheon asked.

"yeah, i would. think of it as me getting to know you and i like music. do you know of yoo kihyun?" hyungwon stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the parking garage. jooheon pressed the ground floor button.

"i do! he mainly sings ost's and collabs with other famous aritsts, but he's coming out with an album later this year. i'm excited, to say the least."

"he's my best friend." hyungwon watched jooheon, his lips curling into a smile as he watched jooheon's eyes widen and his jaw drop.

"for real?" jooheon whispered.

"for real. he's told me he's been looking for a chance to do a collaboration with a rapper."

"oh my god. but…" jooheon looked down.

"but what?"

"but he wouldn't wanna collab with an amateur, no-name rapper."

"i dunno, but, if you'd like, after i listen to some of your stuff, i could pass it on to kihyun? or at least let him listen to it."

"i- really? you'd do that? for me?" jooheon stared at hyungwon with wide eyes.

"of course, you're a wonderful assistant and a good person." hyungwon smiled. the elevator doors dinged open at the ground floor, jooheon's eyes blinking as he gathered himself.

"thank you, hyung. for the offer and the earbuds. i'll see you tomorrow!" jooheon waved as he walked away. hyungwon waved back, the smile still on his face when he exited the elevator at the parking garage. he walked over to his car and saw minhyuk leaning against the passenger side.

"what's gotten you so smiley?" minhyuk asked, sliding into the passenger seat when hyungwon unlocked the car.

"nothing important. anyway, do you know where the best place to buy headphones is? i'm going tomorrow morning." hyungwon replied, starting the car and reversing out of his parking space.

"i do, but why do you need headphones?"

"jooheon told me that his headphones broke this morning, and i've been wanting to get him a gift because he's been such a great assistant. so i want to get him a new pair." hyungwon replied, leaving the parking garage and began their short drive to their apartment building. he and minhyuk were roommates, have been since they were in university.

"alright, i'll help you out. tomorrow morning, we'll buy them for jooheon. how are you going to give it to him?"

"i thought i'd wrap it, write a note and leave it on his desk when he goes to lunch. he'll be a while, since he meets up with one of his friends who works down the road."

"good idea," minhyuk replied, leaning back in his seat. "what are we having for dinner?"

"kihyun said he's gonna come by and make something for us." hyungwon replied, pulling into their building's parking garage.

"sweet, he makes the best food."

"that he does." hyungwon pulled into his parking spot, the guest parking spot was already taken up by kihyun's red car. the duo got out of the car, hyungwon locking it and they headed to the elevator. when it arrived, they walked in and hyungwon pressed the button for the 6th floor. the ride up was silent, both men on their phones. when they reached their floor, minhyuk opened the door to the smell of a japanese curry being cooked.

"kihyunnie! we're home!" minhyuk called, hanging his jacket on the hooks by the door and dropping his bag on the small bench nearby.

"welcome home! how was your day?" kihyun walked out from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a tea towel.

"it was good! my author got his manuscript to me two weeks before his deadline and it's taken a load off my shoulders to know that…¦" minhyuk's voice got quieter as hyungwon walked down the hallway to his bedroom. he shut the door quietly behind him, slipping off his jacket after dropping his laptop bag on the desk beside his door and hanging his satchel on the back of the chair. he hung his jacket on the coat hanger hanging on the hook on the back of his door, his long fingers slipping into his tie's knot and undoing it. he walked over to his wardrobe as he did so, hanging the tie on his tie hanger before undoing the buttons on his white button up shirt. he hung the shirt on a coat hanger, his hands moving to the belt around his hips, fingers deftly undoing the buckle and sliding it out from the belt loops on his slacks. he hung the belt on the metal pole in his wardrobe, making sure it was sturdy before toeing off his black leather loafers. he pushed them into the bottom of his shoe rack with his socked feet, moving onto his slacks once they were in place. the soft material slid down his legs and landed without a sound onto the soft, grey carpet. he stepped out of the slacks and picked them up, folding them neatly in half and hanging them on the same coat hanger as his white button up.

hyungwon bent down slightly and pulled open the top draw of his dressers to pull out an old t-shirt and pulled it on, closing the draw and opening the one below it to pull out a grey pair of sweatpants. he shut the draw and pulled the sweatpants up, sighing in content at the comfort he felt wearing comfy clothes. he reached over to pull a baggy hoodie off a hanger, the hanger knocking loudly against the top of the wardrobe as he yanked the hoodie off. he slipped on the hoodie, closing the wardrobe door once he was done. he turned around and grabbed his phone from his satchel before walking out of his room and back into the kitchen only to find kihyun and minhyuk making out against the kitchen island.

"as long as you don't burn dinner or keep me awake tonight, i don't care." hyungwon said as he walked past them into the living room, where he promptly laid down on the couch and turned the tv on. he managed to watch five minutes of whatever was on the tv before his eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep.

 

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

 

the next morning found both hyungwon and minhyuk in the biggest electronics store in their district. minhyuk had wandered off to where the anime dvds were while hyungwon was staring helplessly at the different kind of headphones the store had. he had no idea what kind jooheon would like, wired, wireless, noise cancelling… there were too many options.

"can i help you with anything?" an employee asked, his deep voice startling hyungwon slightly.

"ah yes, please. my assistant's headphones broke yesterday and i'm wanting to get him a new pair, but i don't know what's best." hyungwon explained.

"i see, do you know what he had before?"

"he said that they were beats by dre, i'm not sure if they were wireless or not."

"right, well i do suggest getting wireless headphones as they're less likely to break because the cord got stuck on something and you yanked them too hard and they broke. true story. okay, so these ones are all wireless, so i suggest testing them out before making your decision."

"thank you…?"

"ah, my name's changkyun."

"thank you changkyun. my name's hyungwon." hyungwon stuck out his hand, changkyun taking it and shaking.

"your assistant wouldn't happen to be a lee jooheon would it?" changkyun asked, putting his hands into his pockets.

"he is, how did you know?"

"he talks about you a lot, endless praises of you being a fantastic boss. he really likes being your assistant too." changkyun replied. hyungwon felt his cheeks heat up, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"i'm so flattered, i didn't know i was that good of a boss. but since you're jooheon's friend, you would have a better idea of kind of headphones he'd like."

"you right, you right. heony's been looking at getting these ones, they're expensive, but after his pay this week, he'd finally have enough."

"brilliant. i'd better get those then. i can trust you to not say anything to jooheon when he meets you for lunch today?" hyungwon asked, taking the box changkyun passed to him.

"of course. the surprise isn't worth ruining for such a great boss, anyway, just head over to the counter and they'll ring you up."

"thank you for all your help, changkyun." hyungwon said, smiling at changkyun, who smiled back, and walked off to where the anime dvds were. he found minhyuk scanning the blu-ray section of ghibli movies, eyeing off 'whisper of the heart' and 'the wind rises'.

"i'm ready to go. you gonna get anything?" hyungwon asked. minhyuk hummed.

"i can't decide what movie to get. i know that these two aren't in my collection, but i just don't know which one is better." minhyuk sighed.

"hasn't kihyun watched them all?"

"yeah."

"maybe you should ask him which one is better? but only when you go on lunch, we're already so late as it is." hyungwon suggested.

"yeah, you're right. let's go." minhyuk agreed, following hyungwon to the counter to pay for the headphones. once they were paid for, they left the building and walked their way back to work.

 

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when lunch rolled around, hyungwon waited for jooheon to leave before he pulled out his little gift. he had it wrapped in simple brown paper, a green silk bow tied neatly around it. as hyungwon was attaching the note, minhyuk walked into his office.

"it looks rather done up for a simple 'thank you' gift." minhyuk said, closing the door behind him. he sat in the plush armchair in front of hyungwon's desk, taking the box from hyungwon's hands.

"shut up, i thought it would look nice." hyungwon mumbled, taking the box from minhyuk's hands.

"it's cute!" hyungwon attached the note in his hand to the box with a little bit of tape, jooheon’s name in simple cursive on the front of the note.

“i’m gonna put this on his desk and then we can go to lunch.” hyungwon said, getting up from his chair. minhyuk stood up as well, leaving hyungwon’s office first. hyungwon shut the door behind him, locking it, and walking over to jooheon’s desk. he placed the gift in the centre of the desk before walking off with minhyuk for lunch.

 

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

 

when hyungwon came back from lunch, jooheon was just taking a seat in his chair when he noticed the gift. hyungwon stood in the doorway to his office, watching as jooheon pulled the note off the box, opening it and reading it. hyungwon watched as jooheon’s eyes widened slowly, looking from the note to the box and back again. he placed the note down on his desk, undoing the green bow and removing the brown paper carefully. jooheon gasped loudly when he saw the headphones. hyungwon decided to walk into the room, make his presence known. jooheon looked up when he heard hyungwon’s shoes on the floor.

“hyung, what... what is this?” jooheon asked, gesturing to the box on his desk.

“it’s a gift. i’ve been wanting to get you something for being a great assistant. so when you told me yesterday that your headphones had broken, i finally had an idea of what to get you,” hyungwon replied, a hopeful smile on his face. “i hope you'll accept it.” jooheon looked from hyungwon's hopeful smile to the box and back again.

hyungwon felt the air rush from his lungs, his breath getting caught in his throat and his eyes widening. the brightest smile hyungwon had ever seen was gracing jooheon's soft cheeks, his deep dimples standing out. his eyes were happy crescents, twinkling when hyungwon could see them again.

“thank you so much, hyung!” jooheon flashed his bright smile again. hyungwon felt his cheeks warm up and a smile grace his own lips.

“you're very welcome, jooheon.” hyungwon left jooheon to go and continue work. when the work day ended, jooheon was still finishing up some emails when hyungwon walked out of his office.

"you can leave now, jooheon." hyungwon said.

"i wish, i still got another 5 emails to attend to before i can leave," jooheon sighed, looking up at hyungwon. the evening setting sunlight reflected on hyungwon's burgundy hair, highlighting it with soft golds. it looked beautiful. "i want to thank you again for the headphones, hyung! it was a very thoughtful gift." jooheon smiled.

"i'm glad you like them, you really deserve it. i'll see you tomorrow, jooheon." hyungwon smiled and waved, walking away. jooheon waved, his eyes focused on his boss's back, eyes eventually moving to hyungwon's long, slender fingers. jooheon's cheeks flushed pink and he shook his head to dispell the thoughts of hyungwon's slender fingers-

_enough!! time to work!!_

half an hour later, jooheon was finally able to log off his work computer, pack up and go home. he unpacked his new headphones before leaving, loving the sound when he started playing his music. he was really happy that hyungwon had gotten him these, it was unexpected, but it was lovely.

lately, jooheon had been having waaay too many thoughts about his hyungwon, his boss. inappropriate thoughts. mostly about his plump lips and his long, slender fingers. he really shouldn't be thinking about them, but it was getting increasingly harder to not think about him and his fingers.

 

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

 

"listen, changkyun, you don't understand what he's doing to my heart." jooheon whined over his chicken burger at the foodcourt just down the road from both of their workplaces.

"i'm sure i have a good idea, you've been whining to be about your boss and his, and i quote, 'slender, long, beautiful fingers,' for the last four months. when did you start fantasizing about your boss's fingers again?" changkyun snickered, taking a bite of his sushi.

"about a month before he got me those headphones…" jooheon mumbled, cheeks pink as he took a bite of his burger.

"dude, you're so fucking whipped for him."

"don't remind me." ever since hyungwon had given him the headphones, hyungwon had been giving him other, small gifts for the past four months and jooheon had absolutely no idea why. sure he didn't mind the gifts, a lot of them were practical and thoughtful, and shockingly they were always what he wanted or needed. he had his suspicions that changkyun had something to do with it, but he couldn't be sure. he decided to test his theory.

"man, i filled up another usb the other day. i have way too many fucking files."

"maybe you should invest in a external hard drive man. then you can finally get rid of that box full of usb sticks. i can put one aside for you to pick up after work?" changkyun offered.

"nah, bro. i might just have to wait until the weekend or something. gotta get paid first." jooheon sighed, watching changkyun. he saw changkyun's eyes flash with something briefly before it disappeared. they finished off their lunch, talking as they walked back to changkyun's work, jooheon dropping him off before walking back to his work.

two days later, jooheon found his theory correct. hyungwon was standing in front of him, a wrapped gift presented to him. he gently took the present from hyungwon, their fingers brushing. jooheon felt his cheeks warm with the thoughts that accompanied the touch. he unwrapped the gift slowly, his lips forming a smile when he saw the external hard drive box. even though he knew it was coming, he was still happy.

"thank you, hyung! i honestly don't know what i've done to deserve all these gifts, but i'm really thankful. so thank you, again." jooheon served his killer dimpled smile, watching as hyungwon's cheeks flushed pink and he smiled back.

"i overheard you saying you ran out of usb sticks the other day," a whole lie, he only told changkyun. "and an external hard drive has a lot more space than several 16gb sticks. so i bought you one." hyungwon answered, looking shy.

"well, thank you again. i really appreciate it."

"you're welcome, jooheon." hyungwon smiled again, heading into his office.

 

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

 

"hey minhyuk, have you heard anything from changkyun lately?" hyungwon asked one evening, both men sitting at the dining table with their laptops out, doing work.

"why do you ask?" minhyuk responded, looking up from his screen to raise an eyebrow at hyungwon. hyungwon looked up as well, eyebrows furrowed as he saw minhyuk's expression.

"i just want to know if jooheon has mentioned needing or wanting something…" hyungwon replied, voice trailing off.

"you know, if you want to be his sugar daddy, which is entirely what you're doing right now, you should just tell him." minhyuk stated. hyungwon's jaw dropped.

"what? no way, i don't want to be his sugar daddy. i just want to see his smile, that's all." hyungwon admitted, cheeks pink.

"and?"

"… and his dimples. minhyuk, they're so deep, i could drown in them. he's just so cute." minhyuk smirked, a plan forming in his head. good thing he's meeting with changkyun and kihyun tomorrow for a date. they'll be 100% on board with this plan, he's sure of it.

 

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼

 

it was 6:30pm on a saturday evening and hyungwon was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a black shirt tucked into his jeans and a black leather jacket on top. a pair of combat boots completed the look. minhyuk told him to meet him here at 6:30 for dinner, to formally introduce changkyun as his other boyfriend. he tapped his foot as he waited, eyes scanning the crowd walking by for minhyuk's blond head of hair.

"hyung?" a voice sounded behind hyungwon, prompting him to turn around. instead of minhyuk's blond mop of hair, he was greeted with jooheon's light brown locks and a blinding smile.

"jooheon? what are you doing here?" hyungwon asked, fully facing jooheon. jooheon was wearing black jeans, a blue plaid shirt with a white hoodie underneath it. he looked good. really good. it took jooheon a few moments to respond, he was way too distracted with how hyungwon was dressed. he looked so.  _damn_.  _good_.

"i- um, uh.." jooheon's cheeks flushed and he slapped his cheeks mentally. "changkyun asked me to meet him here. he said something about introducing me to his boyfriends?"

"minhyuk said the same thing. wanted me to meet his boyfriends, which, by the way, are changkyun and kihyun. in case you didn't know." hyungwon said, smiling. as jooheon was about to reply, hyungwon's phone started ringing. he pulled it out of his pocket and saw minhyuk's contact on the screen. he answered it with a huff.

"care to explain what jooheon and i are doing here?"

"ah, yes, perhaps i should. you see, i came up with a plan to get you and jooheony on a date, since neither of you were going to ask each other. anyway, i've booked a table for two under 'chae' at the restaurant behind you!" minhyuk explained. hyungwon let out a sigh and he heard some high pitched cackling in the background.

"you cheeky fucker. who is that cackling?" hyungwon asked.

"that's changkyun's laugh, i'd know that anywhere." jooheon replied, his face close to hyungwon's. hyungwon pulled the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker, so jooheon could hear as well.

"jooheon's right, it's changkyun. i'm over at his place with kihyun, we're having a movie date night~" minhyuk said.

"we're watching ghibli movies! i'm begging him to put on howl's moving castle on first, but he's insisting on spirited away and kihyun won't pick one." changkyun said. jooheon snickered.

"just because you're overly biased towards howl with black hair."

"fuck you, howl with black hair is hot."

"dude, no, fuck your boyfriends. i've got hyungwon." jooheon retorted. hyungwon looked at jooheon, an eyebrow raised. jooheon hasn't realised what he said.

"yeah, and his fingers. you've finally got a chance to know what they feel like inside your-" hyungwon ended the call, his cheeks pink. jooheon seemed to realise where he was and who he was with. his eyes met hyungwon's, his eyes screaming 'oh shit' and his cheeks flaming red with heat.

"i- uh, um… um…" jooheon was at a loss for words. he had never intended for hyungwon to hear that. ever. never. ever. hyungwon placed his hand on top of jooheon's, it was fidgeting with the loose threads on his jeans.

"hey, stop, you're gonna put a hole in your jeans." hyungwon said, tugging jooheon's hand away.

"sorry…" jooheon mumbled. hyungwon looked at jooheon fondly.

"it's alright, for both things. for the record, i think you're cute." hyungwon smiled, bringing their hands up to his lips and kissing jooheon's fingers. jooheon looked up at hyungwon and his fingers against hyungwon's lips. they felt as soft as they looked, on his fingers anyway.

"r-really?"

"mhm. why don't we head inside?" hyungwon suggested, tugging jooheon towards the entrance.

"sounds good." jooheon smiled a deep dimpled smile, his cheeks a soft pink now.

"after tonight, would you like to go on a date tomorrow? like, an official first date?" hyungwon asked.

"i'd love to." hyungwon smiled and leant down to capture jooheon's lips in a kiss.

they were as soft as they looked.

**Author's Note:**

> f e e d t h e s o u l s o f t h e d a m n e d
> 
> find me on twt @kinkywonn


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